Pam the Bird: arrest ends hours-long standoff after graffiti painted on Melbourne’s 120m Bolte Bridge tower

Pam the Bird alleged graffiti artist perched atop Bolte Bridge tower as standoff continues – video Pam the Bird: arrest ends hours-long standoff after graffiti painted on Melbourne’s 120m Bolte Bridge tower Jack Gibson-Burrell, 22, was taken into custody for questioning after allegedly climbing and painting a giant cartoon bird on the bridge Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The man accused of painting the notorious Pam the Bird graffiti has been arrested after he allegedly climbed and vandalised a major bridge, sparking an hours-long police standoff and traffic chaos. Nearly nine hours after causing a major police operation from the top of Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge, on which he allegedly painted a giant cartoon bird, Jack Gibson-Burrell peacefully surrendered just before midday on Tuesday. The 22-year-old Yarraville man caused “considerable cost to the public”, police said. View image in fullscreen A man gestures from the top of the eastern pylon of the Bolte Bridge in Melbourne. Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPA Police had been negotiating with Gibson-Burrell since they were called to the bridge at 2am over reports someone had scaled one of the 140-metre-high pillars. Just after 11am, Gibson-Burrell, dressed head to toe in black, climbed down the pillar and calmly surrendered to police on the embankment at the bottom of the bridge. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Hours earlier, he had allegedly climbed up the pillar, before abseiling down and painting a Pam the Bird tag, similar to others which have been graffitied across Melbourne for years, often on hard-to-reach places and heritage-listed buildings. Exactly how he got to the top of the bridge is unknown, but some reports have suggested an entry door at the lower level was open and a black bag was covering a nearby CCTV camera. View image in fullscreen Jack Gibson-Burrell surrendered to police on the embankment at the bottom of the Bolte Bridge. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP A recently created Instagram page, @pambirdofficial, shared video stories appearing to be from Gibson-Burrell at the top of the pillar with the hashtag #notcomingdown. In one video, a man’s voice says: “I’m not coming down until they lower the taxes. Fucking sick of paying that shit.” Another video shows feet dangling off the tower and zooms in on a large police presence before the man “flips the bird” to officers down below. Later, he added a request for a blanket. Melbourne’s temperature dropped to 4C on Tuesday morning as fog covered the top of the pillar. At one point during the standoff, Gibson-Burrell abseiled down the pillar and taunted police and media below with a wave before returning to the top. After his arrest, Act Insp Darren Wallis said a 22-year-old Yarraville man had been taken into custody for questioning. View image in fullscreen Police were called to Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge at 3am on Tuesday. Photograph: Joel Carr